Self-lighting cigar.



No. 654,490. Patented July 24, I900.

' G. L. BEENSTIEBNA.

SELF LIGHTING CIGAR.

(Application filed Nov. 14, 1899.)

(N0 Model.)

THE "ohms PETERS m1, vuorouwa. WASNINGTON, o. o.

NTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GUSTAF L. REENSTIERNA, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HENRY R. LEGATE, OB SAME PLACE, AND HARRY J. I-IOOPER, OF DOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

SELF-LIGHTING CIGAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 654,490, dated July 24, 1900. A plication filed November 14, 1899. Serial No. 736,929. (No model.)

bustion of the igniter ignites the combustible tip, which in turn ignites the tobacco.

The invention hasfor its object to provide a tip of this character which in burning will become incandescent, thus igniting the tobacco, and will also constitute an air-proof cap adapted to preventthe fumes resultingv from the combustion of the gas-generating ingredients of the tip and the igniter from entering the tobacco.

To this end the invention consists in the improvements which I will now proceed to describe and claim.

The accompanying drawing, forminga part of this specification, represents a longitudinal section of a cigar embodying my invention.

In carrying out my invention I make a plastic mixture composed of ground glass, saltpeter, chlorate of potassium, and gumarabic. The saltpeter and chlorate of potassium constitute combustible ingredients adapted to burn freely in the open air without liability of being extinguished by wind.

, The ground glass constitutes a fusible ingredient, which is at the same time practically incombustible andis fused by the combustion of the combustible ingredients, so that it forms an air-proof cap or film across the end of the cigar to which the mixture is applied, this air-proof cap preventing the fumes resulting from the combustion of the saltpeter and chlorate of potassium from on tering the cigar. The gum-arabic constitutes an adhesive ingredient which binds the other ingredients together and causes them to .adhere to each other and to the end of the cigar. The proportions of the ingredients I prefer tohave as follows: glass, eight (8) ounces;

saltpeter, three and one-half (3%,) ounces; chlorate of potassium, threeand one-half (3%) ounces, and gum-arabic one and one-half (1%) ounces. These are suitably stirred and mixed with about three (3) ounces of water.

A mass of the above-described mixture is suitably molded into a cap a on the end of a cigar c. A frictional igniter b, composed of a suitable composition, such as that used for the tips of friction-matches, is placed on the surface of the cap a while the latter is plastic and adheres firmly to the cap, the cap in turn adhering firmly to the end of the cigar. When the igniter b is scratched, it quickly ignites the cap a, which burns freely and cannot be extinguished by ordinary wind. The combustion fuses the ground glass and renders the cap incandescent, the fusing of the glass causing it to form an air-proof cap or cover on the end of the cigar, which prevents any of the fumes resulting from the combustion of the igniter and tip from entering the tobacco. Hence no unpleasant taste or odor results from the combustion of the tip. The tip remains incandescent long enough to ignite the tobacco without the necessity of drawing air through the cigar, the cigar being sufficiently ignited by the time the combustible parts of the tip are consumed.

By the term cigar I mean not only ordinary cigars, but also cigarettes and cigarros, so called.

I claim- A cigar having a tip composed of a mixture of adhesive, combustible and fusible ingredients, and a frictional igniter, the fusible ingredient being incombustible, whereby when the tip is ignited the fusible ingredient forms an air-proof incandescent cap adapted to ig nite the tobacco to which it adheres, and to exclude from the tobacco the fumes resulting from thecombustion of the other ingredients and of the igniter.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my I signature in presence of two witnesses.

GUSTAF L. REENSTIERNA. 

